Health Care Video

This video shows a representative giving a House committee his two cents on health care. It's great...check it out!

The Americans By Gordon Sinclair

The Americans

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.

I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped.

Town Hall Meeting

This video was shot at a town hall meeting about health care. Some how I feel like that majority of Americans are against this bill...

The Unemployment Paradox

The unemployment rate dropped in July, from 9.5% in June to 9.4% in July. Many people have found the drop to be odd given that the economy wasn't really doing any better. Even more perplexing is that now that we seem to on our way out of this mess economists are warning that unemployment is still likely to rise to 10% and remain high through 2010. These same economists are projecting economic growth in 2010 and the second half of this year. How does this add up?

The unemployment rate is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on a monthly basis. The formula is very straightforward: Unemployed/Labor Force. The catch is in the definition of labor force. The BLS defines the labor force as those currently working or actively seeking work. Unemployment is then those that are in the labor force but not currently employed. What happens is that when workers become discouraged and stop looking for work they are magically no longer unemployed because they are not a part of the labor force. The drop from 9.5% to 9.4% was primarily due to people stopping their search for work. Since those that fall out are 100% unemployed (by definition) when a large number of people give up the search the unemployment rate can drop or fail to rise month on month even as the economy sinks.

In fact there are some estimates that put the unemployment rate at closer to 15% if the so called "discouraged job seekers" were still included. This is the key to understanding how the economy can improve and unemployment rise slightly or stay high. As more jobs become available and companies start to hire, the "discouraged workers" suddenly start looking for jobs again. That adds more unemployed people to the labor force thus increasing the proportion of unemployed in the labor force - unemployment rate rises. Eventually the number of people becoming undiscouraged drops and the unemployment rates starts to stagnate and then slowly drop. This all occurs well after the economy is in recovery. This effect will likely be magnified this time since the recovery is not expected to be swift.

This is just one example of how the government, and some economists, can lie with statistics. Now you know!

Monday Must Read

8/24/2009:

Business Week ran a special on optimism in this economy that includes several very interesting articles. They might shed some light on where we go from here and how to be prepared for the best. Worth a read.

Fox News has an article detailing how social security payments will shrink in real terms for the first time since 1975. The trustees have opted to forgo the cost of living adjustments for the next two years. This is in response the negative CPI (consumer price index) that has resulted from this severe down turn.

Health Care

The health care debate rages on! It is all but certain that some kind of legislation will pass, but some of the more irksome proposals may not make the final cut. Pulling the government run option seems to be gaining momentum as our senators and representatives struggle to deal with the negative public opinion. The town hall meetings are turning violent in some cases and unruly in most as citizens are voicing their disapproval of such measures. Fox News ran an article not too long ago about violence at a town hall meeting in Florida...check it out.

Interestingly there is some debate in France about the enormous cost of their health care system. The Wall Street Journal ran an article about it not long ago. The article describes how France has struggled to keep up its standard of care as costs have risen. The problem is that the government cannot pay for it, but citizens now expect it as a right along with freedom of speech or religion. The result has been reduced services and locations leading to even longer lines and angry people. The whole article is available here.

One item that no one wants to touch is the impact of illegal immigrants on health care costs. There are lots of studies that show that illegal immigrants almost exclusively use emergency rooms for basic care, because under a 1980s law they cannot be refused treatment even if they cannot pay. This is driving up health care costs nation-wide. The political nightmare that is immigration has basically assured that not only will we pass some version of this monstrosity but will almost certainly not address one of the major drivers of health care costs - illegal immigrants.

It's hard to say for sure what will come out of all of this debate, but one thing is certain if we pass a bill anything close to what is sitting in Congress now it will cost trillions and our children and grandchildren will have to clean it up when the house of cards comes crashing down.

Obama Destroying America

The Lonely Conservative posted an interview between Jennifer Harper and Jon Voight about the Obama Administration. The partial text is below or click here for full text.

“We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can’t see this is probably hoping it isn’t true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default. This great America will become a paralyzed nation.”

Be outraged, Mr. Voight advises. [...]

“The real truth is that the Obama administration is professional at bullying, as we have witnessed with ACORN at work during the presidential campaign. It seems to me they are sending down their bullies to create fist fights among average American citizens who don’t want a government-run health care plan forced upon them,” Mr. Voight says. “So I ask again. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?”

Of course, years of socialist government in England have not produced anything resembling a totatlitarian state. But those who argue that this has disproved the thesis of the Road to Serfdom have really missed one of its main points; that the most important change which extensive government control produces is a physiological change, and alteration in the character of the people. This is necessarily a slow affair, a process which extends not over a few years but perhaps over one or two generations. The important point is that the political ideals of a people and its attitude toward authority are as much the effect as the cause of the political institutions under which it lives. This means, among other things, that even a strong tradition of political liberty is no safeguard if the danger is precisely that new institutions and policies will gradually undermine and destroy that spirit. The consequences can of course be averted if that spirit reasserts itself in a time and the people not only throw out the party which has been leading them further and further in the dangerous direction but has also recognized the nature of the danger and resolutely change their course. There is not yet much ground to believe that the latter had happened in England.

The truth is scary!

Reagan's Views On National Health Care

Ronald Reagan was perhaps the greatest conservative President in modern America, but nearly 2 decades prior to that he was already fighting against the precursor to today's health care debate. The audio below is a recording of a speech by Mr. Reagan that is perhaps the best articulated rebuttal to nationalized health care I have ever heard. There are no cost figures, economic analysis, or opinion polls just plain old logic and historical fact. Please share this with everyone you know.

Obama Speaks At Town Hall Meeting

The following videos show some clips of Obama talking at a town hall meeting on health care...any one notice anything odd? Why does no one disagree with him...all the other town hall meetings on this topic have had disagreement. Enjoy!

Monday Must Read

8/10/2009:

The Wall Street Journal ran an article about Treasury Secretary Geithner asking Congress to raise U.S. debt limit. This is is exactly what the democrats are hoping for a carte blanche to borrow money. I don't know what is worse that we will likely reach the limit of $12.1 trillion by this fall or that Congress will probably raise it.

At least one democratic Senator is open reason! Fox News is reporting that the number 2 democrat in the Senate is open to health care reform without a public health care option. At least maybe they will pass a bill that isn't a death sentence for the federal budget - even if it isn't perfect.

Is Obama Listening in on You?

A Fox News article from today is drawing some attention to an unusual request from the Obama administration. The White House apparently asked supporters to e-mail "fishy" blog posts, e-mail chains, etc to a White House e-mail address. There are no readily available details on what the White House would do with such information. It is just scary that the administration of a United States President would ask our citizens to report political communications to the government. The request has spawned outrage and ridicule from conservative radio hosts and commentators. Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas) has even asked the Obama administration to provide details on how it would use such information. It seems to me that maybe the White House is making a list of those that cooperate with the forced socialization of America and those that do not. This is something that should outrage all Americans. I for one would love to hear what President Obama is planning on doing with any information collected through this request.

Read the article here.

Monday Must Read

8/3/09:

The House is preparing to vote on the Health Care reform bill now that it has cleared all panels and committees. The Wall Street Journal had a brief article on it this week that is worth a read.

Fox News has an article discussing Obama's change of heart on taxes. I am sure I am not the only one unsurprised that Obama is considering raising taxes across the board. Something he campaigned against doing.